Madison County considers waiving landfill fee for flood debris

WAMPSVILLE >> In the wake of major flooding in the City of Oneida, the Madison County Board of Supervisors will consider waiving fees for debris disposed of in the county landfill.

If the board approves at its meeting Tuesday, solid waste tipping fees could be waived for debris from flooded areas in Oneida, Brookfield and DeRuyter.

Designated agencies will be able to dispose of non-hazardous waste at the landfill but are asked to separate debris materials as best as possible and municipalities affected by flooding will be expected to reimburse the county for those fees if they receive FEMA funding.

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In other business, the board could amend the county's purchasing policy, raising the threshold for contractual expenditures to be put out to bid. The county's current policy dictates that any purchase contracts for commodities or services more than $10,000 (or more than $20,000 when public works contracts are involved) must bid. If the board approves, the threshold for competitive bidding could be nearly doubled to $20,000 and $35,000, respectively.

In a new local law, expected to be introduced Tuesday, the board will continue to modify its purchasing practices. The proposed local law seeks to alter the county's requirements for awarding competitive bids for services from its current practice of the "lowest responsible bidder" to the one with the best value. The county currently defaults to the lowest responsible bidder when soliciting purchase and public works contracts. If approved, the local law would allow officials to take other factors into consideration, including bids with the lowest maintenance costs, highest durability or quality or longest "product life." A public hearing on that local law is expected to be scheduled for Aug. 13 at 2:30 p.m.

The county's no-smoking law policy will be up for amendment Tuesday as well to set up a smoking area for corrections officers , since the law won't let them leave the jail to smoke. A public hearing is expected to be scheduled for Aug. 13 at 2:15 p.m.

In other business, the board will consider:

oCreating a temporary full-time heavy equipment operator position in the Solid Waste Department to help facilitate the Westside Landfill expansion project, at a pay rate of $16.74 per hour for 12 weeks.

oAppointment of Denise Cavanaugh, of Whitesboro, and Virginia Whitford-Anken, of Holland Patent, to the Community Services Board.

oAn agreement with CSX Transportation for the replacement of the North Court Street bridge over the CSX tracks in the town of Lenox; the county has allocated $10,835 toward engineering and design services.

The board is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the county office building.